Klout Now Allows You To Delete Your Account



Danny Brown Klout delete option

There have been a slew of stories about Klout and their opt-out policy (i.e., there wasn’t an easy way to do it) across the blogosphere in the last couple of weeks.

Since news broke of their inclusion of minors and the way they were setting up profiles based on public interaction from otherwise private social accounts, Klout has been coming under fire for their practices, especially when it came to allowing users to delete their information.

Well, it seems as if Klout has listened to the criticism – as of today, you now have the option to delete your account (see image above – right-click to expand). To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Klout.com.
  2. Log-in with whatever social network you have connected.
  3. Go to Profile Settings.
  4. Select the Delete Account link (near the bottom of the screen).
  5. Follow the steps to confirm you wish to delete yourself from Klout.
  6. Make a note as to when you deleted, and then set a calendar date to check back on their recommended timescale.

That’s it. It should be pretty seamless to do, but there’s always help@klout.com if you have issues.

Klout’s come in for deserved criticism of some of their practices, so it’s good to see them “do the right thing” on this topic. It’s also a nice reminder that when working together, the collective voice of social media users can be heard and encourage companies to offer better solutions.

Which is always nice.

Update: And just to confirm, here’s the image of what you see now when you go to my Klout URL.

Klout   the Standard for Influence


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About the author: Danny Brown (12 Posts)

Danny Brown is Chief Technologist at ArCompany and an award-winning marketer and blogger. His blog is recognized as the #1 marketing blog in the world by HubSpot. Danny is also co-author of Influence Marketing: How to Create, Manage and Measure Brand Influencers in Social Media Marketing.


198 comments
SuddenlySus
SuddenlySus

@lorrieloveable Thanks, I'm on that page and can't find it anywhere. Will keep looking.

SuddenlySus
SuddenlySus

@lorrieloveable Thanks, I'm on that page and can't find it anywhere. Will keep looking.

pixelens
pixelens

@renita_olson there is no link anymore - they've changed the URL though http://t.co/T9JPyE5O.

renita_olson
renita_olson

@pixelens Oh darn, I'm glad you were able to find the right link :D

pixelens
pixelens

@renita_olson took a bit of reading, thanks for getting me started in the right direction!

TjorvenD
TjorvenD

@blueclock Oh no. So risky. How can you survive without a #klout score. Keep us posted. :) cc @julieparisienne

blueclock
blueclock

@TjorvenD it's the new zen tweeting

lisarobbinyoung
lisarobbinyoung

@k8dotcom Yep. I caught that after I clicked on @dannybrown's profile link. We'll see how that "waiting period" works out. #Klout

lisarobbinyoung
lisarobbinyoung

@k8dotcom Yep. I caught that after I clicked on @dannybrown's profile link. We'll see how that "waiting period" works out. #Klout

lisarobbinyoung
lisarobbinyoung like.author.displayName 1 Like

Danny, just thought you might like to know that they didn't delete your profile. If I stop the page loading before the redirect, I can still see your information. Then, I can open up the "view source" page and see the code that shows me the page layout. I'm no hacker, so if I can figure this out, I'm sure really SMART people can.

danieleagee
danieleagee

@lisarobbinyoung I just tried doing that, but it went straight to the page of the puppy. No redirect. It might be because I don't have an account. Can you send me some screen shots of this happening? danieleagee@gmail.com

lisarobbinyoung
lisarobbinyoung like.author.displayName 1 Like

@danieleagee Nope, because it moves too fast to do a screenshot, but I can tell you how to get there:

In google ghrome:

view-source:http://klout.com/#/dannybrown

Hope that helps.

danieleagee
danieleagee

@lisarobbinyoung Thanks! It doesn't work when you don't have an account. Thankfully I have a few parody accounts that I haven't bothered to delete from Klout. Signed in and I saw what you were talking about. It flashed real fast before the redirect to the Disabled account page. Damn you fast internet! ;)

But it speaks volumes that it only says disabled account. Looks like they aren't deleting the data at all. That makes me rather angry.

@Danny Brown , just making sure you've seen this.

Thanks again Lisa. Looks like we'll have to update one of those Klout posts again.

lisarobbinyoung
lisarobbinyoung like.author.displayName 1 Like

@danieleagee Now, that may go away after the "alloted time" Klout speaks about, but for now, anyone half savvy can still view the content of Danny's (or any disabled, but not deleted) page. A good hacker could probably access the related files and pull up the other info, too.

The only reason I discovered it was because as the page was loading, Danny's current twitter avatar (a picture of a little boy) popped up before it was redirected to the puppy page. So if you're quick, when you open the link in a new window - before it's fully loaded and set to redirect - you can "view source". If you're not fast, you can't reload the page, you have to open an entirely new tab/window, because the redirect is already loaded in that page.

I have no clue if it works on other browsers. I didn't check. Besides, I am not a "real hacker" just a hack hacker. :-)

lisarobbinyoung
lisarobbinyoung

Danny, just thought you might like to know that they didn't delete your profile. If I stop the page loading before the redirect, I can still see your information. Then, I can open up the "view source" page and see the code that shows me the page layout. I'm no hacker, so if I can figure this out, I'm sure really SMART people can.

danieleagee
danieleagee

@lisarobbinyoung I just tried doing that, but it went straight to the page of the puppy. No redirect. It might be because I don't have an account. Can you send me some screen shots of this happening? danieleagee@gmail.com

lisarobbinyoung
lisarobbinyoung

@danieleagee Nope, because it moves too fast to do a screenshot, but I can tell you how to get there: In google ghrome: view-source:http://klout.com/#/dannybrown Hope that helps.

danieleagee
danieleagee

@lisarobbinyoung Thanks! It doesn't work when you don't have an account. Thankfully I have a few parody accounts that I haven't bothered to delete from Klout. Signed in and I saw what you were talking about. It flashed real fast before the redirect to the Disabled account page. Damn you fast internet! ;) But it speaks volumes that it only says disabled account. Looks like they aren't deleting the data at all. That makes me rather angry. @DannyBrown , just making sure you've seen this. Thanks again Lisa. Looks like we'll have to update one of those Klout posts again.

lisarobbinyoung
lisarobbinyoung

@danieleagee Now, that may go away after the "alloted time" Klout speaks about, but for now, anyone half savvy can still view the content of Danny's (or any disabled, but not deleted) page. A good hacker could probably access the related files and pull up the other info, too. The only reason I discovered it was because as the page was loading, Danny's current twitter avatar (a picture of a little boy) popped up before it was redirected to the puppy page. So if you're quick, when you open the link in a new window - before it's fully loaded and set to redirect - you can "view source". If you're not fast, you can't reload the page, you have to open an entirely new tab/window, because the redirect is already loaded in that page. I have no clue if it works on other browsers. I didn't check. Besides, I am not a "real hacker" just a hack hacker. :-)

KatCaverly
KatCaverly

Lisa I am just curious how you did that… I am not seeing a redirect (page is loading really fast, even a partial load shows the "Sorry…" puppy. Your discover is very telling and I want to know more.

iamnickye
iamnickye

@Amanda_ZW @Klout Had an issue with them?

CarlThress
CarlThress

Thanks for letting us know about this, Danny. Worked like a charm. I'm officially off the grid.

DannyBrown
DannyBrown

@CarlThress Now to check back after their recommended timescale and make sure we're off the grid completely. ;-)

CarlThress
CarlThress

@DannyBrown That will be the true test.

NancyD68
NancyD68

I have been trying to do this. I either don't see it or can't find it.

danieleagee
danieleagee

@NancyD68 At the bottom of... I want to say Profile settings, there should be in little orange letters "Delete your account". You click that link, and it will take you to a page where they say, "ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO LEAVE? WE'RE AWESOME!" Continue the opt-out process and you'll see the page above.

NancyD68
NancyD68

I have been trying to do this. I either don't see it or can't find it.

KatCaverly
KatCaverly

they may have moved it to: http://klout.com/corp/optout @NancyD68 anyone else find this odd?

DannyBrown
DannyBrown

@KatCaverly@NancyD68 Gotta love how it's spun to sound like it was all their caring that made them introduce it... ;-)

danieleagee
danieleagee

@NancyD68 At the bottom of... I want to say Profile settings, there should be in little orange letters "Delete your account". You click that link, and it will take you to a page where they say, "ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO LEAVE? WE'RE AWESOME!" Continue the opt-out process and you'll see the page above.

NancyD68
NancyD68

@danieleagee I got it. I have deleted my account. Thanks for the help.

Trackbacks

  1. [...] Klout Now Allows You To Delete Your Account Social media influence tool Klout now allows users to delete their account. Here's how you can delete your Klout account. Source: http://www.punkviewsonsocialmedia.com [...]

  2. [...] We’ve uncovered that some users now have duplicate Klout profiles with different Klout scores. UPDATE 11/1:  As of today, Klout allows users to delete their account. [...]

  3. [...] Klout Now Allows You To Delete Your Account Social media influence tool Klout now allows users to delete their account. Here's how you can delete your Klout account. Source: http://www.punkviewsonsocialmedia.com [...]

  4. [...] ~ Update: As of November 1st 2011, you can now delete your Klout account.  [...]

  5. [...] As of yesterday, Klout now allows you to delete your account. This is one step of many. But it’s a great first step. I deleted mine yesterday. The [...]

  6. [...] Ironically, Klout specifically has suffered quite the backlash on social channels. Recent alarms have sounded over privacy concerns and the inability to remove one’s self from Klout. (Though you can do that now.) [...]

  7. [...] Ironically, Klout specifically has suffered quite the backlash on social channels. Recent alarms have sounded over privacy concerns and the inability to remove one’s self from Klout. (Though you can do that now.) [...]

  8. [...] what we’ve begun to show is that when we gather our voices together, we can make the necessary change happen. And there’s a messy intersection where privacy issues, public health and social media [...]

  9. [...] November 1, Klout added the ability for users to opt out (via a not-very-easy-to-find link at the bottom of the profile settings page).  Ironically, if [...]

  10. [...] not find my profile on Klout anymore. I was inspired to delete my account by Danny Brown‘s post earlier this week. That’s not to say his post is what drove me to delete my account; more like the final point in [...]

  11. [...] of all this angst has been a steady stream of influencers writing posts calling for changes to Klout and/or announcing they have opted out of [...]